From the enclosure written to me today by Signor Rondinelli
you will be able to gain full comprehension, Sire, of the conditions in
Florence and its environs concerning the plague; and seeing as they are
fairly good just now, and you almost fully released from your affairs,
I truly hope that you will not have to delay your return to us much longer,
as we are awaiting you with such longing; therefore I pray you not to
let the ineffable kindness of those most Excellent Lords bind you to them
so tightly that we must be deprived of you for the whole summer. Great
indeed has been their generosity up until now, nor will it ever be possible
to repay all the favors and kindnesses bestowed on you and shared by us.

I want you to pay our usual respects to your hosts,
Sire, especially to Her Most Excellent Ladyship the Ambassadress. Moreover
I will be most appreciative if upon your return you will bring me a little
starch, as you did the last time; and I remind you of the two portraits
that I asked you for, a while ago.

As for the garden, according to what I hear from La
Piera, the beans have formed the most beautiful verdure, climbing as tall
as she is, but the fruit has been small and not very good, and the same
for the artichokes, which I understand were much better last year: nonetheless
there were enough for the house, for us, and also some went to Vincenzio
and to Signor Geri.

The orange trees still do not have a great quantity
of flowers, and I expect the cold and wind that have dominated these past
few days have done them considerable damage; those that fall, La Piera
gathers and makes into juice. The lemons are so ripe that they require
you, Sire, to come and harvest them, and from time to time, whenever one
of them drops, it proves to be truly beautiful and most delicious. This
is as much as the duties of the apothecary will permit me to tell you,
since Suor Luisa and another of my companions are purging their systems,
and I am consequently alone at work. I send you loving regards from all
our usual friends, and also from Suor Barbara and Suor Prudenza, and I
pray the Lord God to keep you.